Yaalon: Syrian Weapons Falling into Opposition Hands

Strategic Affairs Minister says "it is clear that Assad is losing control from day to day."

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Gil Ronen, 29/01/13 01:13

Moshe Yaalon (file)

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs, Moshe Yaalon, said Monday that the government devoted much of its weekly session Sunday to the danger that Syrian chemical weapons would fall into the hands of terror groups, as President Bashar al-Assad loses ground in the civil war there.

"I do not know where it is going, but it is clear that Assad is losing control from day to day, and that installations and weapons stockpiles are falling into the hands of the opposition," Yaalon said.

"Israel is not intervening in the Syrian civil war," he explained, "but we are following the developments so that the barrels of the guns are not turned in our direction. That is what we did in the Golan, which remained quiet. We examine things systematically and continually, along with Turkey, Jordan, the United States, France and Britain."

The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has been installed in northern Israel, according to the IDF, due to the escalating civil war in Syria. The move comes in response to increasing concerns that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may lose control over the chemical weapons arsenal in the country.

Should that occur, the lethal arsenal held by Israel’s northern neighbor could be handed over, or become vulnerable to theft by a number of Islamic terrorist organizations, among them Hizbullah or Al Qaeda.